Method of attaching heels to boots or shoes



(No Model.)

H. A. WEBSTER. METHOD OF ATTAGHING HEELS TO BOOTS OR SHOES.

Patented. Sept. 27, 1892.

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W WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HAROLD A. WEBSTER, OF HAVERI-IILL, ASSIGNOR TO JAMES \V. BROOKS,TRUSTEE, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

METHOD OF ATTACHING HEELS TO BOOTS OR SHOES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 483,293, datedSeptember 27, 1892.

Application filed April 1, 1892. Serial No. 42 7,626. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HAROLD A. WEBSTER, of Haverhill, in the county ofEssex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Methods of Attaching Heels to Boots or Shoes, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to enable a heel to be attached to aboot or shoe through the instrumentality of a heeling machine while theboot or shoe is on the wooden last on which it was made withoutliability of inuring or crushing the said last by the force used indriving the heel-attaching nails.

The invention consists in the hereinafterdescribed improvement inattaching heels to boots or shoes, the same consisting in alternatelystoring up an elastic force and distributing and expending said forcepercussively on the gang of attaching-nails in the direction required tosimultaneously drive said nails, so that after the nails have beendriven and have become rigid parts of the heel there will be no severeor crushing strain upon the shoe-support, as I will now proceedtodescribe. Of the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, Figure 1 represents a front elevation of aportion ofaheel-attaching machine by which my improved method may be practiced.Fig. 2 represents a section on line 2 2, Fig. 1, showing the hammer ordevice for yieldingly driving the nail in its raised positionpreparatory to the attaching operation. Fig. 3 represents a side viewshowing the hammer in the position it occupies when it has driven thenails. Fig. drepresents a side view showing the templet which holds thenails in position to be driven into the heel raised after the drivingoperation and provided with a top lift preparatory to spanking the sameonto the nailed heel. Fig. 5 represents a side elevation showing thesaid templet in the position it occupies when it has spanked the toplift onto the heel.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all thefigures.

In carrying out my invention I employ any suitably-organizedheel-nailing machine having a support or supports for a wooden last a,and ahammer f, which is adapted to strike a yielding blow, and therebydrive all the nails in a-heel g simultaneously home.

I use the term hammer to designate any device which is adapted tosimultaneously drive a gang or group of nails and I intend by this termto designate the group or gang of drivers f which are shown in thedrawings as affixed to and projecting downwardly from the block f, whichconstitutes the body of the hammer.

In all cases when the nails are driven into the heel by the power of theheeling-machine the drivers f will be essential parts of the hammer; butin case the heel has been pre- Viously loaded and charged with nailsdriven substantially through the entire thickness of the heel by aprevious or independent process a hammer without drivers would beemployed.

In the drawings I have shown the hammer f as affixed to the lower endsof a guide-rod which is adapted to slide in a fixed crosshead e,attached to fixed supporting-uprights a a. The hammer f is arranged sothat when depressed it will act upon the heel g, which has previouslybeen placed in position upon heel-seat of a boot or shoe on the last a.In the present case I show as the means for operating the hammerfaspring f bearing at its lower end on a collar affixed to the rod f, andat its upper end on a fixed plug f rigidly attached to the cross-head c,said spring being so arranged that when the hammer f and the rod f areraised, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the spring will be put underincreased tension, so that when it is permitted to act it will drive thehammer against the heel with sufficient force to properly engage all thenails with the sole or heel-seat of the boot or shoe. The hammer may beheld in its raised position against the stress of the spring f by meansof a latch or detent adapted to engage a suitable fixed support,suitable means being provided to displace said latch or detent andremove it from its engagement with the support, so that the spring willbe permitted to act in driving the hammer.

The nails that are simultaneously driven by the drivers f maybe held inposition for the action of said drivers by means of a templet 7. lowernd t0 ears on thecross-head e and at if, which is adapted to movevertically and is interposed between the hammer and the heel. Saidtemplet has a series of nail-holes coinciding with the drivers f Saidholes may be charged with nails by the use of anysuitablyconstructedloading device adapted to drop a charge of nails simultaneously into thenailholes of the templet while the latter is in place on the heel, asshown in Fig. 2. The templet is here shown as secured to vertical rods15, adapted to slide in the fixed cross-head e at opposite sides of theguide-rodf. Springs 26 t are provided to depress the templett and causeit to strike the heel g with a yielding blow, said springs beingattached at their their upper ends to a cross-bar i affixed to the upperends of the rods '6 t. The templet may be held in a raised position, asshown in Fig. 4, by means of detent devices similar to those describedfor holding the hammer f. In case it is desired to use the templet as ameans for spanking on the top lift, as hereinafter described, the underside of the templet may be provided with top-lift-holding devices of anysuitable construct-ion.

7 Operation; Supposing the boot or shoe to be in place on a wooden lasta and the latter supported by the last-supports, with which the machineis provided, the heel g is then properly located on the boot or shoe andthe templet t is brought to bear upon the heel, as shown in Figs. 1 and2. The templet may be then loaded with nails, the hammer fbeing at thistime held in its raised position. The hammer is now released and causedby the spring f to descend and cause the drivers to give a quickyielding blow upon the nails an'd'simul'taneously drive the entirecharge into the heel and clinch the same upon the metal bottom plate,with which the last is provided, the position of the hammer when thenails have been driven being indicated in Fig. 3. The hammer and templetmay be now raised together, as shown in Fig. 4, and held in an elevatedposition until a top lift g has been applied to the .under side of thetemplet, as shown in Fig. 4. The templet may now be released and causedby its springs to descend'and yieldingly spank the top lift upon theprojecting ends of the nails in the heel g, the yielding blow of thetemplet also serving to compress the heel to some extent. It is foundthat by thus driving all the nails simultaneously home by a yieldingblow the injurious or crushing strain upon the last is so reduced thatit is feasible to nail heels upon wooden lasts, the expense involved inthe wear and injury to the lasts being less than that involved inremoving the boots or shoes from the lasts on which they are made andplacing them upon a metallic last or work support-an operation which hasheretofore been necessary on account of the im practicability of usingwooden lasts in a heeling-machine.

It is obvious that the templet 25 may be depressed by the action of thehammer-depressing spring f instead of by an independent spring 1?, inwhich case the hammer and templet would be released together preparatoryto spanking on the top lift, the springf acting on the templet throughthe hammer.

It will be understood that when the heel is to be provided with ablind-nailed top lift the drivers f will be made of such length thatthey will not drive the nails entirely into the heel, but will leave theends of the nails projecting sufficiently to engage the holes in the toplift; but if the heel is to be flush-nailed the drivers will be madelonger, so that they will drive the nails flush with the top surface ofthe heel.

In case the heel has been loaded with nails by a previous operation, thenails being driven substantially through the heel, or possibly a littlemore, the templet twill not be required and the hammerfmay be usedwithout the drivers The force of the hammerdmpelling spring or springsis expended in driving the nails, so that said force practically ceaseswhen the nails have been driven home, and their inde pendent motion inor through the heel and sole is arrested by the surface that clinchestheir points. The action of a spring on a hammer or gang of drivers, inthe manner described, in its effort to regain its normal condition ofpressure after being put under increased pressure is peculiar to aspring, because the movement imparted to the hammer is so quick that thenails are driven or partially driven before the inertia of the heel .canbe overcome sufiiciently to impart the full force of the spring throughthe heel to the last, and also because the force is yielding and isabsorbed in driving the nail, so that when the nails become fixed partsof the heel and can no longer move independently in or through the heelno injurious or crushing force is exerted by the spring through thehammer and nails on the last.

I am. aware that it has been proposed to drive nails by the action ofcompressed air on a piston connected with a gang of drivers; also, thatit has been proposed to drive nails by the pressure of the atmosphere onone side of a piston similarly connected, the air being exhausted fromthe opposite side of the piston. I do not find, however, in such propositions an equivalent of the action of a spring or springs on a hammeror gang of drivers,

because the air-pressure is practically constant and unvarying, so thatafter the nails have been driven and have become fixed parts of the heelpractically the same force is exerted throughthe nails on the last thatwas exerted in driving the nails, there being no such absorption orexpenditure of force as there is in the use of a spring. It is true thatthe force or pressure exerted by compressed air on a piston is somewhatyielding in consequence of the elasticity of the air; but the factremains that the force is constantly and uniformly exerted as well afterthe nails have been driven as during the driving operation.

I claim- 1. That improvement in the art of attaching heels to boots orshoes which consists in exerting simultaneously on a gang ofattaching-nails a percussive yielding pressure the force of which isabsorbed in driving the nails, as set forth.

2. That improvement in the art of attaching heels to boots or shoeswhich consists in alternately storing up an elastic force anddistributing and expending said force percussively on the gang ofattaching-nails in HAROLD A. WEBSTER. \Vitnesses:

HADLEY P. FAIRFIELD, C. F. BROWN.

